The present invention is directed to an improved surgical instrument for cutting organic tissue at or below the skin's surface by employing a flexible blade with specially designed gripping extensions at both ends.
Medical professionals often remove organic tissue, such as lesions, moles, corns and the like, from the surface of a patients skin. Surgeons typically utilize a scalpel for such procedures, cutting around the appropriate area and to the desired depth. Removal of the organic tissue, however, also requires cutting underneath the unwanted tissue, and the scalpel is an awkward an inefficient tool for making such incisions. The straight and rigid scalpel blade requires angular cuts toward the center of the tissue to be removed, which results in the removal of more tissue than necessary. Consequently, many medical professionals have sought more efficient methods for performing such procedures.
Doctors utilize various instruments for cutting thin organic tissue sections for transplanting or grafting, such as U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,038,986 and 3,583,403. These instruments, however, are not designed for the removal of skin protuberances extending from below the skins surface. Such grafting devices shave large thin tissue sections of a preset width and thickness, and achieve smooth continuous cuts. Removal of small sections corresponding to lesions, moles, corns and the like ideally requires a thin flexible and readily adjustable blade for cutting small sections at varying depths. One particular flexible surgical cutting tool, U.S. Pat. No. 4,943,295, designed for the removal of skin protuberances, utilizes a thin flexible blade with finger grips and a sheath covering the rear margin of the blade. The surgeon applies pressure to the finger grips and bends the device to a desired degree of curvature depending on the width and depth of the intended incision. This invention, however, lacks a finger grip design for regulating the blade's flex. Moreover, this invention lacks a sheath design for controlling the shape and extent of the blade's curvature during use.
The present invention combines a flexible blade with gripping extensions designed to regulate the direction of the blade's flex and improve the surgeon's control over the extent of the blade's flex. Furthermore, the present invention teaches a method of varying the flexible sheath design for control over the shape and extent of the flexible blade's curvature.